Smith’s material leaned heavily toward standard themes of lost love and heartache, as exemplified by such classic hits as Anderson’s “Then and Only Then” and Dallas Frazier’s “Ain’t Had No Lovin’.” She also cut darkly personal songs, including “Ribbon of Darkness” and “The Last Letter.” Smith achieved nineteen Top Ten hits through 1973. In 1965, Connie Smith joined the Grand Ole Opry, where she has remained a fan favorite for decades. She cut the Anderson-written “Once a Day” in July 1964 issued as her first single, it spent eight weeks at #1. She went into the studio with RCA staff producer Bob Ferguson, who would become an important studio collaborator for Smith. In May, she returned to Nashville and cut four demos of Anderson’s songs, which led Chet Atkins to sign Smith to RCA Records. With Anderson’s help, Connie Smith performed on the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree in March of 1964. Anderson heard Smith sing again on a shared New Year’s Day bill in Canton, Ohio, and after the show he encouraged her to move to Nashville. During the concert, headliner Bill Anderson noticed Smith’s talent. In August of 1963, Smith won a talent contest in Columbus, Ohio, earning a performing spot that evening in a concert featuring members of the Grand Ole Opry. She began singing at local events, graduating to the cast of a regional TV program, Saturday Night Jamboree, on WSAZ in Huntington, West Virginia. Smith grew up in West Virginia and Ohio in a family of fourteen children.Ĭonnie Smith taught herself to play acoustic guitar at age eighteen, while recuperating from a lawn-mower accident. She was born on Augto Wilma and Hobart Meador in Elkhart, Indiana, U.S. Connie Smith born Constance June Meador, is an American country music artist.
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